Supplying liquids at constant rates



June 24, 1941.

E. KINSELLA 46,594 SUPPLYING LIQUIDS AT CONSTANT RATES Filed Apf'il 14, 'l938 s Sheets-Sheet 1 June 24, 1941. E. KINSELLA SUPPLYING LIQUIDS AT CONSTANT RATES Filed? April 14, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 24, 1941. 5 K|N$ELLA 2,246,594

SUPPLYING LIQUIDS AT CONSTANT RATES Filed April 14, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 A arm Q3 Patented June 24, 1941 SUPPLYING LIQUIDS AT CONSTANT RATES Edward Kinsella, Spondon, near iDerby,'England, assignor to CelaneseCorporation of America, a corporation of Delaware Application April 14, 1938 Serial No. 201,987

In Great Britain April 29, 1937 11 Claims.

This invention relates to a method of andmeans for continuously supplying a liquidat a :constant rate.

It is sometimes desired to supply a liquid continuously at a constant rate. Thus, for example, in the manufacture of artificial filaments and like products by extruding a coagulable liquid into a coagulating medium, it is of great importance with a View to obtaining uniform-products to supply the liquid to the extrusion orifice at a constant rate. In the case of liquids such as viscose and cellulose derivative solutions, the method which is invariably adopted is to-supply the liquid by means of a continuous delivery measuring pump. Some liquids, however, e. g. rubber latex and like dispersions, cannot be passed through a measuring pump without danger of coagulation, corrosion ofthe pump or other disadvantage. Much ingenuity has hitherto been expended in attempting to solve the problem of maintaining a continuous supply of such liquids at a constant rate but no simple solution of this problem has hitherto been available. The present invention affords such a solution.

According to the invention; the liquid which it is desired to supply is continuously displaced at a constant rate from a closed container by means of a second liquid supplied at a constant rate, e. g. by a measuring pump, the continuously of supply from the container being maintained by" replacing the quantity of the first liquid already displaced, by introducing a further quantity of such first liquid at a higher rate than that at which it is displaced and simultaneously and at the same higher rate removing an 'equalquantity of the second liquid.

The feeding of the container with freshquantities of the first liquid can be effected by dis-.

placing this liquid by suitable means from an auxiliary closed container. Conveniently, the required quantity of the first liquid is displaced from the auxiliary container by means of a liquid pumped in at the same rateas thesecond liquid is withdrawn from themain container, in which case the quantity of the second liquid removed from themain container-maybe transferred to the auxiliary container to displace angequal-quantity of the first liquid. This can be done for instance by providing an auxiliary constant delivery pump, e. g.a gear pump of higher capacity than the measuring pump, connected on its-inlet side to the upper part of the main container (assuming that the second liquid is lighter than the first) and on its-outletside to the upper part of theauxiliary "container;

By feeding the first liquid to the main container at a higher rate than that at which itis displaced therefrom by the operation of the measuring pump, time is available between successive feeding operations to replenish the supply o;f1the firstliquid in the auxiliary container. It is of advantage, with thisobject in view, to make "the delivery rate of the auxiliary pump several times as great as the delivery rate of the measuringpump.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, 'in which Fig. 1 represents an arrangement for continuously supplying rubber latex to, and causing it to be extruded through, a die (the so-called spinning jet) into a coagulating bath to form rubber threads;

Fig; 2. represents. a similar arrangement adapted forhigh pressure displacement of the latex to the die;

Fig.3 represents'a similar arrangement to that of .Fig. 32 but adapted for automatic operation; and

Fig. ,4 is a perspective view of the control mechanism in the auxiliary container shown in Fig. 3.

Referring to'Fig. 1, the closed container l is partly filled withlatex 2. The spaceabove the 1 latex is filled with a'body of oil 3 lighter than,

and'immiscible with, the latex. Oil is continuously supplied from a tank 4 by means of a measuring pumpi to the container l above. the level of thelatex and forces'latex at thesame -rate'throughthe outletfG. The oil space "3 in the container l is also connected through a pipe 'lin which is a valve 8 and a second pump 9 of higher capacity than the pumpS ,to the oil space in an auxiliary container l0 which is also filled with a lower body of latex and an upper bodyof oil. A further pipe H, in which isa ,valve [2, connects the latex spaces of the. containers land ll].

When the latex in the container I has sunk to a predetermined level, the valves 8 and 12 which in the drawings are shown closed, are

opened and the pump 9 is started. This withdrawsoil from the .container 1, and pumpsit into the container [0 with the resultthat simultaneously an equal quantity of latex isdisplaced from In and forced through the pipe II into the container I. When the latex in, I has risen to the desired level, the pump ,9 is stopped and the valves 8 and H are closed. The container in is then refilled through a pipe I3 .byopening a. valve H to permit latex to flow by gravity from a supply tank I5, displaced oil returning to the tank 4 by a pipe I6, a valve I! in which must also be opened. While the container I is being used to feed the container I, the valves I4 and I! must be kept closed as shown in the figure.

The pressure in the container I may be considerably above atmospheric pressure. It is, however, convenient to feed the auxiliary container I0 from the tank I under a considerably lower pressure, e. g. by gravity. It is therefore of advantage to provide means for building up the pressure in the container I9 so that the pressures in the two containers are nearly the same before the containers are connected for transfer of latex from the one to the other to be efiected by means of the pump 9.

Fig. 2 shows diagrammatically an arrangement having such means in the form of a valve I9, taking the place of the valve 8 of Fig. 1 and adapted to connect the inlet of the pump 9 either to the pipe I or to the tank 4 through a pipe I8. Using this arrangement, when it is desired to feed the container I, the first operation is to connect the inlet of the pump 9 through a pipe I8 to the oil tank 4 as shown in Fig. 2. The pump 9 then pumps oil from the tank 4 into the container I9 until the pressure in that container is substantially equal to that in the container I. At this point the valve I9 is operated to cut off the inlet of the pump 9 from the oil reservoir 4 and to connect the pump inlet through the pipe 1 to the container I. The transfer of oil from the container I to the container I 0 and latex from the container II] to the container I then proceeds as described with reference to Fig 1.

The fully automatic apparatus shown in Fig. 3 has a general arrangement similar to that of Fig. 2, but the valves I2 and I4 are replaced by non-return valves II 2 and H4, valve I I is replaced by a spring-closed needle valve III, the two-way valve I9 takes the form of a balance valve H9 and an additional spring loaded nonreturn valve is provided in the pipe I8 to allow oil to be pumped from the oil tank 4 into the container I9 until the pressure therein is nearly equal to that in the container I. In addition float gear is provided in both containers I, ID, that in container I9 operating valve II! and cooperating with that in container I to control the working of pump 9 which is electrically driven.

The arrangement is such that feeding of container I from container It! can only take place when the latex level in the former is low and that in the latter is high. In series in the circuit supplying the electric power for driving the pump 9 are two toggle switches 2|, 22. The switch 2i the arm 28 closes the switch and starts the motor of pump 9provided that the second switch 22 is not open, as would be the case were the level of latex in container I9 too low. As the float 23 rises again with the replenishment of the latex in container I, the arm 28 is lifted until it opens the switch 2I. A collar 3| limits the downward movement of the float 23.

The float 24 in container I9 slides along a pair of vertical guide wires 32 supported by brackets 33, 34, and is connected to a vertical spindle 35 guided at the bottom by the bracket 34 and connected at the top to an arm 36 pivoted on a dead spindle 31. A collar '38 limits the downward movement of the float 24. The arm 3'0 is part of a bell-crank lever whose other arm 39 extends upwards and has an arcuate slot 49 coaxial with is closed by the fall and opened by the rise ofa float 23 in container I as the latex level in that container rises or falls beyond predetermined levels. The other switch 22 is closed by the rise and opened by the fall of a similar float 24 in container ID. The float 24 also opens valve II? in falling and closes this valve in rising.

The float gear in container I comprises a vertical spindle 25 slidably mounted in upper and lower brackets 26, 21 extending from the sides of the container, the float 23 sliding axially on said spindle. The switch 2| operated by said float gear is operated by an arm 28 which is substantially horizontal in the off position. The

free end of the arm lies above the float 23 and is pivoted to the spindle 25 at 29. The float is designed to rise and fall with the level of latex in the container. When it has fallen to a predetermined position, carrying the spindle with it,

the shaft 37 in which rides a pin 4| on an upwardly extending weighted arm 42 of a second bell-crank lever also freely mounted on the shaft 31. The other arm 43 of the bell-crank lever has an arcuate slot 44 coaxial with the shaft 31 in which rides a pin 45 on a third lever 46 also freely mounted on the shaft. The valve II! is forced into closed position by a spring 41, but can be held open by the engagement of its downwardly depending valve rod 48 by a latch 49 adapted to be operated by the lever 46. A pin 50 projecting from the lever 46 engages freely a vertical slot 5| in a .block 52 on the end of the valve rod 43 and enables the valve II! to be opened by clockwise movement of the lever 46.

The second switch 22 is operated by a lug 53 at the upper end of the weighted arm 42, the swinging of the arm about the shaft 31 causing the lug to strike one or other of two radial projections 54 on the switch.

Hinged about a fixed pin I55 so as to swing in a plane parallel to that of the weighted lever 42 is a member 55 depending downwards into the path of the lug 53, and another member 56 normally maintained in a substantially horizontal position by means of a support 51. A set screw 58 in the member 56 rests on a shoulder 59 of the member 55. The member 56 engages the vertical piston rod 69 of a dash-pot 6|. When the weighted arm 42 swings anti-clockwise to close the switch 22 by engaging the left-hand projection 54, the member 55 is moved freely by the lug 53 without moving the member 56, but when the arm 42 moves clockwise, after opening the switch by engagement of the right-hand projection 54, its further movement is retarded by the member 55 which can only move out of the path of the lug 53 by moving the member 56 against the resistance provided by the dash-pot 6I. This delayaction device gives time for the pump motor 30 to stop before the valve II! is opened by the lever 46 for refilling of the container II! by gravity from the tank I5 to commence.

When the float 24 in container I0 is at the bottom of its stroke the switch 22 is open, the arm 42 is inclined to the right and the valve rod 48 is held down by the latch 49 so that the valve II! is open. As the latex level rises in the container, the float 24 also rises and moves the lever 36 which in turn moves the arm 42 firstly into the vertical position and then slightly more till the arm then falls to the left, a movement that is permitted by the slot 40 in the lever 39. The slot 44 allows the lever 42 to acquire momentum before the lower end of the slot 44 in the arm 43 engages the pin 45. The lever 46 has a tongue 62 that engages the latch 49 and allows the spring 4'! to close the valve 1. During this movement,

the lug 53 closes the-switch 22 so that the motor of "pump 9"wi1l start as soon as the switch 2| isclosed. i

When the that 24 in container 'IO falls to a predetermined point, it causes the lever 42 to move clockwise, the slot 40 permitting thelever to fall when it passes the vertical. The lever opens the switch 22, but further movement of this lever is then retarded by the dash-pot Bl because of theengagement of the lug 53 withthe member 5:5; After thelugclears the end of the member 55, the lever42fal1s freely and through the pin 50 on the lever 46 forces the block 52 on theend of the valve rod 48 downwarda so opening the valve Ill. The block 52 is re-engaged by the latch 49. l

The balance valve H9 comprises a casing 63 in which operates a piston 64 having a hollotv stem 65. so that the upper side of the piston-may communicate with the 'pipe l8. A passage 66 leads from the upper side of the piston to the inlet of the pump9, and a return passage 6'! leads from the outlet of the pump to the under sideof the piston. When the pis'ton64'is raised sufficiently, a port 68 in'the-stem communicates with an annular recess 69connected tothe pipe I.

With the pump 9 set'in operation by the closing ofboth switches 2|, 22, oil is drawn by the pump from thetank 4 through the pipe "3 into the tank H], the valve ll'l having been closed by theoper ation of thefloat and the port 68 not being in communication with the-pipe I. As the pressurein container Ill is being built up to equal that in container I, the piston 64 rises until the port 68 registers with the recess 69, the non-return'valve-M closes, and the pump 9 draws oil from the container I by the pipe 1 and the pipe 10 into thecontainer l0, and by displacement forces latex from thecontainer Ill-through the pipe l l and non-returnvalve l2 into-the container l, the whole of the liquidbeing at thepressure maintained-in the container 1 by the pump 5. The transfer of liquids continues until the float 23 cuts off the motor 30 which drives pump 9. The valve l2 closes, and the piston 64 falls. The float 24 opensthe valve 1 ll-andlatexfiows into the container ID by the pipe l3, displaced oil passing by the valve -I I1 to the tank 4.

The pumpi for ensuringa constant-supply of oil from the tank 4 to the oilspace in the container I is of the dual type, working with a balance valve to ensure uniform delivery even under varying pressure conditions, which is particularly useful where the latex is being supplied to an extrusion orifice that may become choked. The first pump H has a greater delivery rate than the second T2. The balance valve 13 is controlled by a piston subjected on opposite sides to the pressure on the inlet and outlet sides 15, T6 respectively of the pump 12. The valve 13 controls a bye-pass from the outlet side 11 to the inlet side 18 of the pump H in such a way that a variation in the pressure on the outlet side 16 of the pump 12 causes a variation in the effective area of the bye-pass, and so restores the original pressure relationship between the two sides of the pump 12. When such an arrangement of two pumps and a balance valve is introduced in place of the single measuring pump between the tank and the container I, any variation in pressure at the extrusion point will be transmitted through the container I to the oil on the outlet side of the measuring pump and will produce a corresponding variation in pressure on the inlet ments sidelofthe measuring pump, so maintaining the rate at which oil is supplied to the container "I andtherefore therate at which latex is displaced therefrom substantially constant.

The invention has been d'escribedwithparti'cu lar referenceto supplying-rubber latex to an -extrusion .point in the manufactureofrubber fila- The process and apparatus of the invention =are, h'owever, capable of many other applications in pumping liquids which for one reason oranother it is undesirable to passdirectly through a measuring pump yet which are required to be supplied at a constant rate. It 'i's not of course-essential to use oil as'the displacing liquid. Any liquid immiscible with the liquid which is-to be displaced and which is otherwise suitable-canbe'used. A simple and obvious modification (i; e. a general inversion of pipe connections) of the apparatus as described will enable li quids heavier than the liquid to be disment, which comprises continuously displacing a liquid from a body of liquidof constant'volume at aconstant rate by-means of :a second liquid immiscible with the first and supplied to said body o'f liquid at a constant rateyand, in order' to maintain the continuity of supply of the first liquid from said body of liquid, replacing the quantity of the first liquid alreadydispl-aced by intermittently introducing a further quantity of said first liquid at a higher rate than that at which it is being displaced and simultaneously and at the same higher rate removing an equal quantity of the second liquid.

.Method of supplying liquids by displace ment, which comprises continuously displacing a liquid from a body of liquid of con-stant'vol ume at a constant rate by means of a second liquid immiscible with the first and supplied to said body of liquid at a constant rate, and, in order to maintain the continuity of supply of the first liquid from said body of liquid, replacing the quantityof the first liquid already displaced by intermittently introducing "from an auxiliary body of liquid of constant volume .a further quantity of said first liquid at a higher rate than that at whichit is being displaced and simultaneously and at the same higher rate transferring an equal quantity from said body of liquid to said auxiliary body of liquid.

-3. Method of supplying liquids by displacementjwhich comprises continuously displacing a liquid from a main body of liquid of constant volume at a constant rate by means of a second liquid immiscible with the first and supplied to said main body at a constant rate, and, in order to maintain the continuity of supply of the first liquid from said main body, replacing from an auxiliary body of liquid of constant volume the quantity of the first liquid already displaced by intermittently building up the pressure in said auxiliary body to substantial equality with the pressure in said main body and then introducing a further quantity of the first liquid from said auxiliary body to said main body at a higher rate than that at which it is being displaced from said main body and simultaneously and at the same time transferring an equal quantity of the second liquid from said main body to said auxiliary body.

4. Method of supplying liquids by displacement, which comprises continuously displacing a liquid from a main body of liquid of constant volume at a constant rate by means of a second liquid immiscible with the first and supplied to the main body at a constant rate, and, in order to maintain the continuity of supply of the first liquid from said main body, replacing from an auxiliary body of liquid of constant volume the quantity of the first liquid already displaced by intermittently building up the pressure in said auxiliary body to substantial equality with the pressure in the main body by pumping liquid into said auxiliary body and then introducing a further quantity of the first liquid from said auxiliary body to said main body at a higher rate than that at which it is being displaced from said main body and simultaneously and at the same time transferring an equal quantity of the second liqiud from said main body to said auxiliary body, the change in level of the first liquid in said main body being utilized to control said pumping operation.

5. Apparatus for supplying liquids by displacement, comprising a closed container for containing the liquid to be supplied, an outlet from said container, means for supplying a second liquid immiscible with the first liquid to said container at a constant rate so as to displace the first liquid at the same constant rate, means for intermittently introducing a further quantity of the first liquid into said container at a higher rate than that at which it is displaced, and means for removing an equal quantity of the second liquid at the same higher rate.

6. Apparatus for supplying liquids by displacement, comprising a closed main container for containing the liquid to be supplied, an outlet from said main container, means for supplying a second liquid immiscible with the first liquid to said main container at a constant rate so as to displace the first liquid at the same constant rate, an auxiliary closed container, means for intermittently introducing a further quantity of the first liquid from said auxiliary container into said main container at a higher rate than that at which it is displaced, and means for transferring an equal quantity of the second liquid at the same higher rate from said main container to said auxiliary container.

7. Apparatus for supplying liquids by displacement, comprising a closed main container for containing the liquid to be supplied, an outlet from said main container, means for supplying a second liquid immiscible with the first liquid at a constant rate so as to displace the first liquid at the same constant rate, an auxiliary closed container, a valve connection between said main and auxiliary containers, means for putting said auxiliary container under pressure, means for in termittently introducing a further quantity of the first liquid into said main container at a higher rate than that at which it is displaced, and means for transferring an equal quantity of the second liquid at the same higher rate from said main container to said auxiliary container, said Valve connections being such that said containers are only put into communication with each other when the pressures therein are substantially equal.

8. Apparatus for supplying liquids by displacement, comprising a closed main container for containing the liquid to be supplied, an outlet from said main container, means for supplying a second liquid immiscible with the first liquid at a constant rate so as to displace the first liquid at the same constant rate, an auxiliary closed container, a pump for applying pressure to said auxiliary container, a valve connecting said pump to a supply of the second liquid and pressure operated means controlling said valve so as to cut off said pump from said supply of second liquid and to connect said pump to the main container when said pump has raised the pressure in said auxiliary container to substantial equality with that in said main container, so as to introduce intermittently a further quantity of the first liquid into said main container at a higher rate than that at which it is displaced, and means for transferring an equal quantity of the second liquid at the same higher rate from said main container to said auxiliary container.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8, comprising a float in the main container, a motor for driving the pump, and a switch in the motor circuit controlled by the float.

10. Apparatus according to claim 8, comprising a float in the main container, a float in the auxiliary container, a motor for driving the pump, and two switches in series in the motor circuit, one switch being controlled by each of said floats.

11. Apparatus according to claim 8, comprising a float in the main container, a float in the auxiliary container, a motor for driving the pump, two switches in series in the motor circuit, one switch being controlled by each of said floats, a valve for the escape of the second liquid from the auxiliary container, said valve being controlled by the float in said auxiliary container, delay action means to, prevent opening of said valve until said motor has stopped and means for supplying a further quantity of the first liquid to said auxiliary container by the displacement of the second liquid through said valve.

EDWARD KIN SELLA. 

